Combing-machine



J. W. NASM ITH.

I COMBING'MACHINE.

APPLICATION man mwzz. 1919.-

" Patented Feb. 22, 1921.,

3 SHEETS-SHEET I- W... 2.4. arms rrozlyirs- APPLICAHON 'FILED MAY 27'I919,

' L-"w. NASMITH.

comma MACHINE.

' Patented Feb. 22, 1921.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

J. W. NASMITH.

COMBiNG MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILEID IMY27.1919.

Patented Fb. 22, 1921.

3 SHEETSSHEET showing other p 'top comb mechanism.

umren STATES PATENT, OFFICE.

JOHN w. NASMITH, or MANCHESTER, ENGLAND.

. COMBING-M ACHINE.

T0 allwhomit may concern; a

Be it known that 1, JOHN WILLIAM NA- sirirrr, of Leegate,Mauldeth Road,Heaton Mersey, Manchester, England, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements n combing-Machines, of which the follow ng is aspecification.

This invention relates to improvements in combing machines of theNasmitlrl lellmann type and will be fully set'forth 1n the followingdescription with reference to the accompanying drawing in which Figures1, 2,

3 and 5 are diagrammatic illustrations, Fig.

l is a sectional view in elevation, through oneheadof the machineshowingcertain parts and'lligs. 6 and 6 are similar views arts. Fig6,shows the left hand half of a double machine with the parts in thecombing position and l jig. 6 the right hand side-with the parts in thepositions occupied during the detaching pe riod and an alternativearrangement of the In the now well-known Nasmith combinlg machine thenipper swings upon pivot placed below the cylinder and the nipper pointmoves to and fro along an. are A F 1. During the time that the nipperpoint traverses the short are BC and back again the rows of needlesmounted upon and occupying about a quarter of the periphery of thecylinder have passed through the tuft of material projecting from andheldby the 'nipper. The short are BC, for the sake of brevity, may becalled the; combingfarc and it is essential that it should beapprox1-mately parallelto the periphery of the cylinder. in order tosuitdifferent lengths of fibers that compose various materials to becombed, the various growths of cotton for instance, it is necessary toalter the pos1t1on of the whole are AC-in relation to. the detachingroller D, that is 'to; say that for short material the forward extremityA must be considerably nearer toD than for long stapled material anditfollows that the combing arc is altered in relation to the peripheryof the cylinder. .In the original Nasmith comber the theoretical.divergence of the combing arc in its various positions in practice, fromthe peripheryof the cylinder, is so small except in extreme cases, as tobe negligible,becauseithe cylinder is a circle inside the are. V

In the British Letters Patent 887i of 1914 granted tome thecylinder' isa circle. ex-

increasing 1 Specification ofLetters Patent. Patent d- F b 22*192 A n mnfiledMav 27, 1919. Serial No. 300,116. d V Y ternal to the arc traversedbythe point of the nipper, (Fig. 2). In this case the combing arccoincides sufliciently with the pe ripheryof the cylinder for practicalpurtion is to' provide means whereby the whole are traversed by thenipper may be altered in relation to the detaching roller D without inanyway altering the relation of thecombing arc to the cylinder. 7

To achieve this object one way is to make the pivot on which the nipper.oscillatesadjustable along an are having the axis of the combingcylinder as center, or along a line approximating to such arm. It isthen clear that. by moving the pivot N'to n Fig. 3, the

wliole a1'c AG is moved farther from the detachlng roller to the dottedposition ac without in any way altering the relation of the shortcombing arc'bo to the periphery of the cylinder. Itis also clear thatthe farther the point A is withdrawn from the roller D by movingfthe;pivot N toward a,- the higher the point A isin relation to a horizontaltangent tT drawn to touch the top of the roller D, so that during thedraw- .ing off or detaching period the material is wellsupported behindthe-top comb (T Fig.

' 6*), which must always goup to the detaching roller D no matter whatmay be. the position of A. In other words as N is moved toward a, thetangent of angle (tot, that is,

the angle between the dottedarc limited by radii a and Z), andthetangent line $1 is an lsTuantity. When the nipper pivot is at (Fig.3)the point A ofthe arc AC lies on the line tT and the angle and itstangent are zero. As N moves to. the

.angle and its tangent rapidly increase as A rises abovethe line tT,

Fig. 4, shows one suitablemechanical arrangement permitting theadjustment of the pivot N. 1. is the cylinder fixed upon theshaft Crevolving inbearings 2.the bosses ofwhich project from the framing andupon which levers 3 pivot, one at each side of each head of the machine.Fixed securely in 3 is the nipper pivot N upon which the nipper swingsas will be described later. In 3 is.

lever 9, ofwhich there are two to each head keyed'upon the shaft carriedin bearings in the frame 6. On the end of the shaft 10 is keyed an indexlever 11 provided with a circular slot 12 and secured to the framing *6by the screw '13. A fixed finger 14 serves as an index to a graduatedscale on the edge of the lever 11. The index lever 11 being secured tothe framing by tightening the screw-13 the shaft 10 becomes a fixtureand the screws 5 being loosened, each of the pivots N throughout thelength of the machine may be adjusted separately b the nuts 8 on therods 7 so as to be all alike in line at any given point on the arc W"which has the axisC of the combingcylinder as center. When this has beendone all the pivots N throughout the length of the machine may beadjusted simultaneously to any other desired position by releasing thescrew 13 and moving the lever'll to another point on the scale andsecuring it there.

Hitherto the adjustment of the distance between the nipper point and thedetaching roller D to suit various lengths of fiber was obtained byaltering the position of the arc of oscillation of the nipper shaft WVby suitable means on the end of it (compare U. S. specification No.724119). A second object of the present invention is to provide means ofmaking this adjustment independently of the shaft W. The displacement ofthe nipper pivot N as already described provides this means and altersthe nipper shaft and,

(3) When the nipper is set back it raises the point of the nipper and soaffords increased support of the material behind the top comb.

The oscillating shaft W from which the nipper receives its to and fromotion is placed above and a little behind the nipper pivot as shown inFigs. 4, 6 and 6 and is so placed with a three-fold object now to beexplained.- Firstly it must be so placed that the lever keyed upon itcan be connected to the nipper in such amanner that thedisplacement ofthe nipper pivot N will not materially affect the amplitude of the arcof oscillation of the nipper but only its osition in relation to thedetaching roller This is diagrammatically illustrated in Fig. 5. If thepivot N be displaced along the arc W to a the center 16' moves to thedotted position along the arc am determined by the link 17 swinging oncenter 20 controlled by the arm 21 on the shaft W and results indisplacing V the, forward end of the path of the nipper from P to p butdoes not affect the nipper or its movement in any other way.

Secondly it isso placed that the opening and closing of the nipper canbe directly obtained from the oscillation of the shaft W and reasoningas above it is obvious that moving N to nFig. 5 does not disturb eitherthe time or the amount of the opening of the nipper since the pin N4Figs. 5 and 6 onl moves along an arc with N6 as center Thirdly it issoplaced that the swinging of the top comb can also be directlycontrolled) from therocking shaft-W (Figs. 6 and 6 In my BritishLetters. Patent 3871/ 14 the top comb was shown and claimed as pivoted"justment was changed as is the case in the original Nasmith comber; Inthe above mentioned Letters Patent this was avoided with advantage butit was impracticable to connect the top comb directly to the nippershaft and a separate operating shaft had to be provided and further asthepath of the top comb needles was an are parallel to that of thenipper point means for lifting the comb at the rear end of its path soas to clear itself every stroke had to be provided also. By placing thenipper shaft. as above described in relation to the nipper pivot the topcomb can be'operated directly from the nipper shaft and the separateshaft and lifting mechanism all dispensed with and the'machinegreatlysimplified. In Figs. 6 and 6 two methods of operating the comb from thenipper shaft are shown, one shows the right" and the other the left sideof the machine, the latter being preferred. The comb is also arrangednotionly to lift 'ofii its pivot but to lift bodily, off the machine.

The preferred arrangement-ofFig. 6 will now be described in detail,alongwith the general arrangement of the nipper parts. The Fig. 6 is asection, through the middle of a head in vertical elevation but omittingthe parts shown in Fig. 4 except N, W, and 10. g V

The arm 15 (one at-each side ofthe head) f-hinges freely on theadjustable pivot N, the other end carrying a stud 16 on which hinges thelink 17 provided with adjusting nuts 18 and passes through a swivel 19hinging on the stud 20 fixed in one arm of the three-armed lever 21keyed upon the oscillating shaft W. Securedto the arms 15 at each sideof the head is a nipper cheek'N2 cast together with the bridge piece Bto which is secured the bottom nipper knife P2.

Adjustment of this knife to the needles of the cylinder is provided bythe screw P the slot S and the screw S1 and the bolt 16 which, whenloosened, serves as a pivot for the nipper cheeks N2 during this adjust-'ment. piece B are projections to carry the pivots Cast near each end ofthe bridge knife for cleaning or other purpose. The

link N5 has threaded upon it an open splral spring abutting. against theunder face of a swivel N6 pivoting freely in the short arm of thethree-armed lever 21. Adjusting nuts N7 are provided above the swivel.When the nipper is closed as shown in Fig. 6, the

swivel leaves the nuts and compresses the spring to grip the materialbetweenthe jaws of the nipper during the combing period.-

As the shaft W oscillates to its opposite position shown in Fig. 6 theswivel N6 con- "tacts with the nuts and lifts the top jaw,

opening the nipper for detaching, while the spring is dead. Owing to theposition of the shaft W this action as already explained, is in no wiseaffectedby the amount of adjustment of thepivot N required in pracrice.

The top comb blade T is screwed tothe bridge T1, secured to the arms T2provided with circular adjusting slots. T3 is a pivot fixed in theframing of the machine and.

loosely hung thereon is the piece T4, which is slidably adjustable bymeans of the set screw T5 on the upper end of the arm T2. Also pivotedon the stud T3 is the independent lever T7, having fixed in its lowerend a pin T8 which engages in a groove T10 formed in the arms T2, sothat any swinging movement of the pendent levers T7 is imparted to thecomb arms. This swinging movement is obtainedv from a third arm on thelever 21 which is keyed on the shaft W and carries a pin on which therod T6 pivots. The other end of this rod passes through a swivel T9 andis furnished with adjusting nuts. The piece T9 is accommodated betweenthe arms T2 and the levers T7 and swivels freely on the pin T8. In orderto prevent the comb from lifting when working a small latch T11 isfreely pivoted on the lever T7 and drops naturally into a-notch formedinthe piece T4. When itis desired to lift the comb for any purpose thelatch T11 is pushed back out of the notch when the whole comb canberemoved bodily from the machine.

In this arrangement the arcdescribed by the point of the comb needlesisnot parallel with that followed by the nipper. point but towardthe'rear end intersectsit and rises above it thus obviating thenecessity of providing special mechanism for li-ftingit.

In the arrangement shown injtFigi 6, the pivot T31 on which the top combrocks is fixed in'the top comb arm T27 and rests in an open bearingformed in the bracket T41", which is adjustable in a groove shaped inthe stand 6 and provided with adjusting screws T57 to raise and lowerthe .comb. The upper end of the top comb arm T2ris connected tothe arm21?" of the lever 21 keyed to the nipper shaft W by means of the rod T61The pivot T3r'is prevented roller is omitted from the drawings,'the or-.dinary arrangement being used. I

That I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is 1. In a combingmachine, a combing cyl- I inder, a'detaching roller, nippers adjacenttosaid combing cylinder for holding the fiber to be combed adapted toswingin the roller, etween 5 arc of a circle adjacent the combin andmeans whereby the distance I) the detachingroller and said are maybealtered without disturbingthe relation of'the arc to the periphery ofthe combing cylinder. 1;; v

2. In a combing machine,a combing cylinder, pivotally mounted nippersadapted to swing in the arc of a circle adjacent said cylinder, thepivot point of said nippers be. ing adjustable along an arc of a circleconcentric with said cylinder or along 'a line approximating such anarc.

3. In a combing machine, a detaching roller, nippers pivotallymounted'to swing in an are adjacent said detaching roller, anipper-operating shaft, means for alterin the distance between the arcin which sai nippers swing and the detaching roller independent of. thenipper-operating shaft.

4. In a combing machine, a plurality of detaching rollers, a pluralityof nippers mounted on pivots to swing in arcs adjacent said detachingrollers, a nipper-operating shaft, and means for simultaneously alteringthe distance between all of said detaching rollers and the correspondingnippers independent of said operating shaft.

5. In a combing machine, a plurality of detaching rollers, a pluralityof nippers mounted on pivots to swing in arcs adjacent said detachingrollers and means for simultaneously altering the distance between thearcs in which said nippers swing and said detaching rollers.

6. In a combingmachine, a plurality of combing, cylinders, a pluralityof nippers pivotally mounted longitudinal of the machine,'the pivots ofsaid nippers being adjustable along arcs of circles concentric with saidcombing cylinders, said means being of such character that the pivotpoints of the nippers may be, adjusted simultaneously or each adjustedseparately.

7 In a combing machine, nippers adapted to swing in thearc of a circleand having a pivot point on a lever adapted to be swung f on a pivotconcentric with the cylinder, an

means comprising a second lever and connecting means between saidlevers, and a shaft extending longitudinally of the machine to whichsaid second lever is key for adjusting the pivot point of said nippers,

8. In a combing machine, a plurality of combing, cylinders, a pluralityof levers rotatably mounted lengthwise of the machine tomove it, so thatan arc described b any point thereon will be concentric wit thecylinder, nippers ,pivotally mounted on said levers to swing in an areadjacent said cylinder, a longitudinally extending shaft in the machine,and a second set of levers extending from said shaft, connecting meansbetween said levers whereby the position of the pivot points of all ofthe nippers may 7 be adjusted simultaneously, and means comuprising nutsscrewed onto said connecting means between the levers whereby each ofthesaid pivot pointsmay be adjusted separatelly.

9. n a combing machine, a combing cylinder, a detaching roller,nippersadjustably said jaws being adapted to be opened and closed andadapted to swing in an arc of a.

circle adjacent the said cylinder, and means whereby the distancebetween the detaching roller and said are may be altered withoutdisturbing the relation of the arc to the periphery of the combingcylinder, the pivot point of saidnippers being adjustable along the arcof a circle concentric with the combing cylinder, a nipper-operati-ngshaft} located in the machine above and behind the pivot of saidnippers, means on said operating shaft whereby the swinging of theynippers and the opening and closing of. said jaws may be operated, theadjustmentof the pivot point of said jaws being such as not to cilectthe swinging or the opening and closing thereof. v

10. In a combing machine, a detaching roller, a combing cylinder,and atopcomb swingingly mounted adjacent thereto and cooperating therewith,nippers pivotally' mounted to swing in an are adjacent said detachingroller, a nipper operating shaft,

means for altering the distance'between the are in which said nippersswing and thede- V tachinug, roller independently of the nipperoperating shaft, means for connecting the top comb with V thenipperoperating

